Newbie w/ several questions

[MasonJar]

Howdy y'all,
 
I just starting growing peppers last spring. These were the first fruit plants I've ever grown, so I am very inexperienced.
 
I planted five varieties and had a huge crop of peppers in the summer and fall. Around Halloween I dug up one of them and brought it into my basement, also ordered four Ghost Pepper plants of various types and started them in the basement. Months have gone by and the plants look healthy, but their growth has stagnated. My mature plant isn't producing anywhere near as many peppers as it was last fall, and my Ghost pepper plants remain very small. I water them daily and have a pretty strong grow light on them 24/7. I have occasionally provided them with a little fertilizer, but I've heard it both ways that pepper plants do/do not like fertilizer. They are in a closet type area to keep the heat from the light in. They're all planted in Miracle Gro potting soil.
 
The ghost pepper plants are definitely leggy but I don't think they're big enough yet to need tomato cages, someone tell me if I'm wrong.
 
Looking for tips on how to get them to grow and produce better through the rest of the winter. I'll transplant them back outside in the spring so I expect them to start doing better then.
 

 

[Hafners]

If your watering daily, your most likely over watering, I water my indoor plants in smart pots every 7 to 10 days. For temps you want around 70-75f and a small fan circulating air, enough to make the plants wiggle, this helps strengthen the stamps and prevents mildew on the leaves. I wouldn't run the lights 24/7, I use 18/6 with good results, the plants need some rest time to metabolize their sugars.

What grow light are you using?

 

[Masher]

Plants look good....the one in the cage can be pruned down half of every branch as needed.

It will get it ready for New growth and bigger plant.

Watering as said should be every 4-7 days in that environment.

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

If your watering daily, your most likely over watering, I water my indoor plants in smart pots every 7 to 10 days. For temps you want around 70-75f and a small fan circulating air, enough to make the plants wiggle, this helps strengthen the stamps and prevents mildew on the leaves. I wouldn't run the lights 24/7, I use 18/6 with good results, the plants need some rest time to metabolize their sugars.

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[Hafners]

Forgot to mention humidity. 50-60%, much higher than that and you invite unwanted fungi and other pests. There's research that says the optimal temperature for photosynthesis is 77f, so that's been my target temp lately, but you don't get any added benefits by going higher. Your better of slightly cooler than higher as the increased transpiration just leads to more water usage.